I do not use the language of my people. I can take liberties with certain themes which the Arabic language would not allow me to take.

I love life in spite of all that mars it. I love friendship, jokes and laughter.

I belong to a specific category of writers, those who speak and write in a language different from that of their parents.

In the 70s I was in exile; every time I went back I wondered if they'd take my passport away.

I don't feel guilty about expressing myself in French; nor do I feel that I am continuing the work of the colonizers.

The power of the word in Morocco belonged to men and to the authorities. No one asked the point of view of poor people or women.

We must stop posing as victims of the West and behaving negatively towards the West. We must participate with the West on an equal footing in the reconstruction of the world.